Running Hot and Code
Intensity on the racetrack steers the way toward an electrified future
Aakhilesh Singhania loves an intense situation. And these come hard and fast in his job with Bosch Motorsport.
His work often places him on the side of a racetrack, giving professional teams technical and safety assistance on the fly.
"You need to keep your cool, make sure that you're still looking at things with a calm mind. Every moment that you stop on the track is a lap lost. If a car stops, the cars are just going by, and you know every two or three minutes you're losing one lap."
Aakhilesh works on the Le Mans Daytona hybrid (LMDh) vehicles. These vehicles are North America's first hybrid-powered prototype race cars competing in the International Motor Sports Association's Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class. Bosch Motorsport is an exclusive partner for the hybrid powertrain in each LMDh car, providing system engineering as well as electric motors, inverters, hybrid control units, and electric braking systems. During races, Aakhilesh and his Bosch colleagues stand by, ready to help as teams push the new systems to the limit.
"I do track support, software development and some simulation support. Almost all cars out there have a Bosch Motorsport system. It's humbling when you see the extent of electronics we have. It makes you feel that you are part of a larger thing."
A mechanical engineer by training, Aakhilesh now is a senior applications engineer for the hybrid motorsport team. He works with what he calls "functional software", a step removed from directly writing the code that goes into these high-tech racing machines.
The Bosch electronics continuously log data that Aakhilesh and colleagues define for those systems, whether it's the battery or motor control. Efficiency, power limits, and safety are all taken into account.
"We look at data that can help us determine the performance and the health of the hybrid system. And Bosch, as the hybrid system supplier, is also responsible for the integration of the system."
He got the speed bug as a kid in his hometown of Kolkata, India. "There were vintage car rallies on the first Sunday of every year. I'd watch from the balcony for hours. They looked great. The revving of the engines. It was thrilling for me."
His dad's perpetually broken SUV, a Maruti Suzuki Gypsy, offered chances to learn his way around a vehicle. Turning wrenches led to degrees in mechanical and automotive engineering. He and fellow students joined competitions where they designed and fabricated their own race cars from scratch — "from CAD all the way to racing." Competitions took them to Germany and the Czech Republic. Aakhilesh's work continues to take him far and wide as he flies from event to event.
"It's an environment that pushes you to the limit, to think better and faster every single time."
And it has practical impacts for the real world. Pushing systems and parts to the breaking point in extreme conditions yields data for Bosch's engineers who build systems for everyday vehicles on the road. As the industry electrifies, these lessons and data push the forefront of e-mobility innovation.
"We push the limits of what components can do. With motorsports, we know how to make an electric motor more reliable and efficient. The gains are directly translated to road cars. That part that you would need to change after 15 years now can go for the life of the car."
Fun. Intense. Rewarding. Future-forward.
"I always want to be on the forefront of technology. And let's give electrification a fair chance. Combustion engines did not become extremely efficient in one day. We gave them 70-80 years to develop. Let's give electrification at least half that."
